


For Want of a Bath

by Yrindor



Category: Original Work
Genre: Bathing/Washing, Caretaking, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-11
Updated: 2020-02-11
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:42:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22658746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yrindor/pseuds/Yrindor
Summary: After multiple weeks out on muddy, icy, sloppy, spring roads, all Amelie wanted was to collapse into her own bed.  Unfortunately, that was before the king decided to invite her to dinner.  With only a few hours until she's expected at the palace, there's only one person Amelie trusts to have her presentable in time--Nessa, her favorite stalwart bath attendant.
Relationships: Female Knight/Female Bath Attendant with a Crush
Comments: 8
Kudos: 21
Collections: Chocolate Box - Round 5





	For Want of a Bath

**Author's Note:**

  * For [maharetr](https://archiveofourown.org/users/maharetr/gifts).



The lady knight sighed as she trudged down the street to the bathhouse. Back in the city for less than a day, and already she'd received a dinner invitation, and from the king himself no less. The spring thaw was well underway, turning every road outside of the city into mile after mile of mud and melting snow. She'd been on the road for a week, arrested two dukes for tax evasion, and helped clear a camp of bandits, a seemingly simple task that had turned into a three-day long hunt through the woods after the leader slipped past their sentry. She was covered in mud, hadn't had a proper bath since she left, and somehow the king expected her to be presentable for his dinner table in less than four hours time!?

She stomped into the bathhouse, the door slamming open behind her more loudly than she had intended.

The attendant looked up, ready to express her displeasure before she recognized her newest customer. "Amelie! You're back!"

"Please don't mention it, Nessa," Amelie said with a grimace. "Left everyone else behind to get back here and sleep in my own bed instead of another half-frozen mud pit, finally made it back well after midnight, and then this morning a page comes knocking at my door to deliver a message from the king himself, who apparently wishes to show his _appreciation_ for my efforts by inviting me to be his dinner guest. Tonight!"

"The audacity!" Nessa exclaimed. "He doesn't even give you a day to yourself to rest?"

"I bet he doesn't want something to pull me away again. I wonder if he'd change his tune if he knew I orchestrated most of those urgent summons myself?"

"Are you in need of another emergency, my lady?" Nessa asked. "I'm sure we could come up with something."

"Please don't tempt me. I would, if the Commander hadn't somehow caught word. I'm under direct orders from him not to skip; avoiding the king is one thing, but the Commander..."

"In that case, what are we waiting for? Come along, my lady, we don't have much time, and no offense, but your hair looks like a rat nested in it. You can't dine with the king like that!"

"For all I know, one did," Amelie grumbled, running a hand through her close-cropped hair. It would have been in good company with the squirrel who had chewed a hole through her pack to get at her food, the snake that had been drawn to the warmth of her bed roll, and the coyote who had run past her camp and spooked her horse so badly she had spent most of the night calming him down.

Nessa led her down the hall to one of the private bathing rooms. It was a small luxury, but one she was always willing to indulge in.

"You prefer the water hot, my lady?" Nessa asked as she poked at the fire under the tub.

Amelie groaned in anticipation. "Please. A week out this time of year and I'm not convinced I'll ever be warm again." The thought alone was enough to give her gooseflesh. She began to strip off her clothing, eager to climb into the waiting tub and soak away the stiffness and aches of the road.

Nessa laughed at that, adding more wood to the fire before she turned back. "Oh! My lady, you have so many bruises today," she gasped.

Amelie winced as she craned her neck to squint over her shoulder at her back. It was a rather colorful shade of purple under the mud, wasn't it? "You try chasing a bandit lord for three days straight this time of year and see how you feel," she muttered. "You can thank the icy rock that spilled me on my ass for at least one of those. Good thing I'd given up on the horse by then or he'd have broken a leg for sure."

"I'm glad my lady didn't break her leg either. Hopefully nothing else either?"

"Don't mind an old lady and her grumbling," Amelie said as she climbed into the waiting bath. "Nothing's broken, just bruised and sore."

"You aren't that old, my lady," Nessa said. "Here, let me see to your hair. I do still miss when it was long, even if it doesn't pick up nearly so many tangles now."

"I could have lived with the tangles," Amelie admitted, "but not the liability. The first time some upstart drunk in the tavern tried to strangle me with my own hair, I knew it needed to go."

"Did you know the arms mistress at the palace keeps her hair long?"

"She's also a force to be reckoned with. I doubt anyone would dare get close enough to her to even try."

Nessa smiled. "If they did, they'd have their regrets. Rumor has it, and I can confirm, that she weaves a spiked cord in with her braid. I imagine it would be quite the deterrent should my lady ever be interested in growing her hair out again."

"I'll take it under advisement," Amelie. It came as no surprise at all that the woman who had terrorized many years' worth of young trainees would have tricks up her sleeve for every eventuality. Though she would never admit as much out loud, Amelie aspired to someday have half the skill of the arms mistress, and maybe a third of her confidence when she turned down every unwanted dinner invitation and request to dance without missing a beat.

"You're tense again, my lady," Nessa said. "Are you sure you won't be wanting that emergency?"

"Unfortunately," Amelie replied. She groaned when Nessa dug her thumbs into the knots in the back of her neck. "Might take an actual summons back out of the palace, but I don't relish the thought of sitting on a horse again so soon. I'm a woman of simple needs. A hot bath and one full night in a real bed is all I ask for, but you'd think I was asking for the moon with how people react."

"Of course. Such simple pleasures must clearly be feminine desires, and thus they are incapable of serving any useful purpose at all other than squandering time and money. That is how such things work, is it not?"

"Absolutely. Sleeping on a real mattress instead of muddy, rocky ground and maintaining some modicum of good personal hygiene can't possibly serve any real purpose. We clearly must clearly be drawing on some form of cursed, demonic power for such things; there's no other possible explanation."

Nessa laughed. "You sound just like some of the squires up at the palace, my lady. Some rather unsatisfactory types in the newest cohort, but I have every faith that the weapons mistress will change their tune, or else they'll be packing up their bags to return home within a few moons."

"Just on a whim," Amelie asked as a thought occurred to her, "how often does the weapons mistress frequent this establishment?"

"Why, every day, my lady," Nessa said with a feral grin. "She has a reputation to uphold after all. I'm not her preferred attendant, but I've filled in from time to time when Alex is unavailable. Alex was one of her lieutenants back in the day before a bad arrow wound cost her her leg. I've heard it was the same ambush that took the weapons mistress out of active duty and back to the palace."

Amelie winced. It was an occupational hazard of the profession, but what would she do if she had to stop working in the field? Sure, she could do without the mud, but she'd go stir crazy if she tried to live her entire life within the confines of the palace walls, or even the city walls.

"You're tensing again, my lady," Nessa chided. "You can't dine with the king with your shoulders up by your ears like this. Oh if only I had the time to give you a proper massage!"

Amelie forced her shoulder to relax, and when she did, they dropped nearly a full hand's width. Apparently she'd been more tense than she'd realized, though she dared imagine anyone invited to the dine with the king shared a similar opinion.

She turned back to Nessa. "There may not be time now, but I will have all of the time in the world after this insufferable dinner finally draws to a close. It's been too long since we had the opportunity, but you are still welcome in my rooms tonight should you desire."

"I would love to, my lady," Nessa said softly. "Perhaps I will have the chance to tend to you in the ways you need. If they summon you back into the field again, I don't want injuries to befall you for the sole reason that you were too stiff or bruised to move easily out of the way."

"I promise you, if I deemed my physical condition too much of a liability, I would turn down the assignment. I hate to intrude on your day off, but a massage does sound lovely."

"It would bring me great satisfaction to serve you in this way, and in any other ways you might desire," Nessa said softly. "I love you, dear Amelie, and I would have to see some misfortune befall you."

"I love you too, Nessa. Should you wish to come by, I doubt I will be released from the king's clutches much before the final evening bell. You've heard how the man can ramble on and on once he gets going. Do you still have the key to my quarters.

Nessa tugged on a fine chain around her neck until the key she wore constantly came loose. "Of course, my lady. Who else would water your plants while you are away?"

"That's you!?" Amelie exclaimed in surprise. "Here I thought I just had excellent timing."

"I apologize if I overstepped my bounds, my lady, but your plants truly are beautiful. I would hate for anything to happen to them on account of the demands of your work."

"I'm not upset, simply surprised. I never imagined one would go to such lengths for such a thing. I hope it has to caused an undue burden on your time."

"On the contrary, my lady, I take great pleasure in ensuring that my lady's quarters are properly maintained and prepared for her return. You said it yourself, you spend more time than not sleeping out in the mud and rocks. You deserve to come back to a place that requires nothing more of you than falling into your own bed."

Amelie slumped forward, burying her head in Nessa's shoulder. "I don't deserve you, Nessa," she whispered. "You are too kind."

Nessa rubbed the back of Amelie's neck. "On the contrary, you are a kind and thoughtful woman who deserves far more than you are given. Come and let me fix you up before you end up late to dinner."

"I don't need anything too fancy," Amelie protested. "If the king wishes to order me to dinner the day I arrive back, then he gets what he gets. I don't want to be setting any precedents."

"Of course not, my lady," Nessa said with a smile. "Just the bare minimum to pass as a presentable member of the court."

"You understand me perfectly."

Nessa curtsied. "I will be waiting for you when you return tonight, my lady," she murmured, her breath hot against Amelie's neck. "Perhaps then I could demonstrate how one shows proper courtesy to a respected knight."

"Please, Nessa," Amelie begged. "If you keep that up, I will be thinking of nothing _but_ you through all of dinner tonight."

"I only wish to keep my lady from becoming bored. The king is not known for being the most...scintillating of conversation partners."

Amelie couldn't find fault with that logic, no matter how much she may have wanted to. By the time she was finally dressed and ready to return to the palace, most of the fatigues and aches of the road were long forgotten. Now, she had entirely different reasons to be wishing to return to her quarters. With one last kiss, she bade Nessa goodbye for now and hurried up the road toward the palace gates.

She was still flushed when she made it to the palace and took her seat beside the king. She normally cared not at all for the latest palace trends and fashions, but she sent up a silent prayer of thanks to whatever powers had made lip dye and blush all the rage this season. No one need know she had other things on her mind.

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Chocolate Box season!


End file.
